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Spiders Welcome to the spider page! On this page you will learn about how spiders communicate, what they look like, what they eat, where they live, and what they do during the day and night. Did you know that spiders are not insects? They are different than insects because they have eight legs instead of six, no antennae, and have two major body parts instead of three.
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| Animal Communication |
Some
spiders communicate visually. For example, did you know that one way a
female spider communicates
is by attracting a male by Some spiders
also communicate through touch. When
a spider rams his front legs into the ground, it vibrates its
body and once it shakes the body the vibration moves to the ground. Next the female will feel the vibration and maybe she will
mate with the male.
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| Physical Characteristics |
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There are two main parts of the spider’s body which include the cephalothorax (which is a fused head and thorax) and the abdomen. Ususally the cephalothorax and abdomen are connected to each other with a waist that is actually the last part of the cephalothorax. Spiders also have special appendages called spinnerets on their abdomens. These make the silk that spiders use to create their webs. Spiders have eight legs and no antennae which makes them different than insects. Spiders also have two pedipalps (or palps) located next to their mouths. These leg-like structures help them eat their food.
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| Habitat |
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Spiders live
about everywhere in the world. In
houses, woods, and anywhere else where a spider can hide. In a house
they can hide under beds, in closets, and in small corners. In the woods
they can hide in logs, trees, and bird nests.
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| Food |
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Spiders
eat many different kinds of foods. They are usually carnivorous and
feed only on living prey. They like to eat insects, but some
spiders have also been known to eat small mammals, fish, and birds.
Most spiders catch their food by building webs to trap insects. Their webs are made out of spider silk. The silk is a thin protein strand made by the spinnerets Did you know that jumping spiders do not make a web to catch their food? Instead, they jump and leap to catch their prey, but they have to have amazing eyesight to catch it at the right time. Even though they are harmless to humans they eat flies and other insect pests. Almost all spiders eat those too.
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| Growth & Reproduction |
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Spiders reproduce by making eggs. When a female spider has eggs to watch over, she hides them in a sac, so she can keep track of them. A female spider can lay up to 100 or more eggs. When all of them hatch they start crawling all over the area that they hatched from.
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| Other Interesting Facts |
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| Activities |
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jumping spiders are mostly active during the day. They find food to
eat and sometimes find a mate to mate with.
Also most spiders are active during the night. They sneak up on their prey or just go on a walk in their neighborhood.
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| Citations |
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Online Resources Fact
Monster/ Information Please R Database, Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. “Funnel-web
Spider.” World Book Online Reference Center. 2006 World
Book, Inc. 31 Jan 2006 "Spider." Wikipedia. 15 April 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders>. "Spider." World Almanac for Kids. 15 April 2006 <http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/animals/spider.html>. Periodicals “Spiders."
Highlights for Children. July 2005 issue 7. Pictures Copyrighted
clip art image
of black spider from "Microsoft
Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1> Permission to use photographs of spiders is granted under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.
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dancing?
Once a male finds a female it shows off its colorful legs
by thumping them on the ground and then starts waving them in the
air.
Did you
know that some spiders have four eyes but most have eight?
Most spiders are very colorful and camouflaged with plants and
holes. A tarantula has little hairs all over its body.